5.  The applicants were born in 1984 and 1951 respectively and live in Kharkiv.
6.  On 16 May 2003 Ms Shch., on the instructions of the police, bought four grams of cannabis from the first applicant. Following this, the first applicant was arrested by the police on suspicion of supplying drugs. The 20-hryvnia (Ukrainian hryvnias, UAH) note given by the police to Shch. to buy the drugs had been found on him. During a search conducted at the applicant's house later the same day another twenty grams of cannabis were revealed.
7.  During pre-trial investigation the applicant confessed to selling drugs to Shch., whom he knew by her first name, and to keeping drugs at his house.
8.  On 19 May 2003 the applicant was released on an undertaking not to abscond.
9.  On 23 July 2003 the criminal case against the applicant was referred to the Chervonozavodsky District Court of Kharkiv (the District Court).
10.  At the end of November the first applicant was summoned to appear before the court on 2 December 2003. According to the applicant, he fell ill on 31 November 2003. The next day the doctor gave him a sick note.
11.  On 2 December 2003, despite the fact that the second applicant had informed the court of the reasons for the first applicant's absence, the court decided to replace the undertaking not to abscond with detention.
12.  On 8 December 2003 the first applicant was arrested, and on 16 December 2003 he was brought before the judge, who rejected his request for release.
13.  During the hearing of 16 December 2003 the court rejected the applicant's request for Shch. to be summoned on the ground that in accordance with the law the buyer participating in a police drug test purchase operation should not be summoned to court.
14.  On 26 January 2004 the court rejected another request for release lodged by the first applicant.
15.  On 19 July 2004 the District Court found the applicant guilty of supplying drugs and sentenced him to five years' imprisonment, with confiscation of his property. The court established that the applicant had bought cannabis from an unknown person on 11 May 2003 and had kept it at home for selling. On 16 May 2003 he sold some cannabis to Shch. and more cannabis was found at his home. The court noted that during the trial the applicant retracted his confession and first claimed that a certain A. had forced him to keep the drugs and that Ms M. had taken them from him. Then the applicant denied completely that any drugs had ever been in his possession and stated that the police had planted money and drugs and forced him to confess. The court considered that despite this retraction the applicant's guilt was confirmed by the body of evidence, including the written statements of Shch., as well as statements made at the hearing by police officers N. and K., who had conducted the operation, and witnesses K. and E. who had been invited by the police to observe the operation. All of them confirmed that Shch. had gone to the applicant with a banknote and come back with a small packet of a substance later established to be cannabis.
16.  The applicant appealed against his conviction, complaining, among other things, that despite numerous requests on his behalf, Ms Shch. had not been summoned and questioned by the court and that it had not been proven that he had sold drugs to Ms Shch.
17.  On 29 July 2005 the Kharkiv Regional Court of Appeal changed the applicant's sentence to a suspended one of three years. The court did not reply to the applicant's complaint that witness Shch. had not been questioned in court.
18.  The applicant appealed in cassation, further complaining that Shch. had not been questioned in the court hearings.
19.  On 25 April 2006 the Supreme Court of Ukraine upheld the decision of the appellate court. No reply had been given to the applicant's complaint that Shch. had not been summoned or questioned in the court hearings.
20.  On 2 December 2003 the second applicant attended the District Court and informed Judge O. that the first applicant was ill. She was accompanied by five other persons. According to the second applicant they were all invited to the judge's office but he later asked them to leave his office, which they could not do because police officers were barring the exit. The same day the judge's secretary drew up an administrative offence report on the second applicant. The report was passed to Judge Shch., who questioned the applicant, found her guilty of contempt of court and ordered her administrative arrest for fifteen days. In his decision Judge Shch. noted that at around 10 a.m. that day the second applicant entered the office of Judge O. with a “support group” consisting of Ms M., Ms I., Ms G., Mr K. and Mr P. in order to put pressure on the above judge in the criminal case against her son (the first applicant) and refused to leave the office when requested to do so by the judge, his secretary and the judicial police. The court found that the applicant had stayed in the office of Judge O. for forty minutes and prevented him from commencing the court hearings.
21.  After the above decision the second applicant became unwell and was taken to hospital.
22.  On 17 January 2004 the Deputy President of the Kharkiv Regional Court dismissed an extraordinary appeal by the second applicant against the decision of 2 December 2003 ordering her administrative arrest.
23.  On 27 January 2004 the prosecutor of the Chervonozavodsky District requested the court to reduce the second applicant's sentence on account of her state of health. This request was granted and the administrative arrest was replaced by a fine of UAH 136.